Oddsockworld

Pipecleaner flowers

I didn't like the fresh flowers in the shop so I made these bright flowers from crafting pipecleaners and they look great!

Make a rubber stamp from an eraser

A quick tutorial on how to make rubber stamps for next to nothing . I bought a pack of 12 pencil topped erasers for $2 and drew a small design on each one. Next I cut around my outlines and lifted the negative shape away just like easing a slab of cake off a plate. Simple and easy to hold. Happy stamping!

Yarn bombing

 

 

Melbourne.....yarn bombing! I am inclined to think that this activity should be confined to inanimate objects rather than nature's finest - it might work against nature if left there for too long.....eg. harbour for fungi or insects?.....what do you think?

 

 

Handbag made from recycled cardboard

Things to make with a cardboard box - Making a designer handbag from a wine box is a clever way to upcycle a cardboard box. I chopped off the top 10 cm (which I will keep for another idea). Then measure approx 5 cm horizontally from the top corners of the box, draw a line from the marks to the corner at bottom of box and cut the 4 pieces away.

 

Front side of cardboard bag with handle

 

Decorate and varnish the cardboard bag with acrylic paint and satin varnish,add handles and bind sides together. Handles were made from strips of waste corrugated cardboard, painted one side with lamp black gloss craft paint - dries with a semigloss finish - then run the strips over the edge of a desk to curve them and squash slightly. I used the sewing maching to hold the edges together and also to top-sew the square handle holders. Further photos will be published in a full tutorial.

Brighton Pier

via www.purseblog.com

This is crazy enough to be on Oddsockworld.....love the stick of rock and bashed up beach huts!

Christmas Tree design

My Christmas tree made from bendy green sticks lashed together with horizontals and decorated with glittery baubles. Not very stable.

Patchwork quilt

I have always wanted to buy a jelly roll - the name given to a selection of pre-cut fabrics. I decided to just get on with it asap and vaguely arranged them. I'm going to sew them into strips of 3 then cut into squares. Aim to finish this part in 2 hrs!

Rainbows

We are settling down to life in NSW and I am waiting for my art materials to arrive via boat. Painted a rainbow this morning and it attracted a mate within minutes in the form of a fabulous parrot on the window ledge!

Recycled horseshoe garden sculpture...

via www.thepearhouse.com.au

Haven't posted for a while - organising our 4 year work/travel adventure to Australia has kept me away from my artistic/creative life. Taking a break from sorting heaps of stuff into different heaps of stuff - ready to be disposed of very soon, I am sitting here looking for signs of my kind of creativity near the area where we will be living in just under 4 weeks' time...this is beautiful

Make a framed picture from a vintage book cover

My mum used to read The Borrowers to me when I was tiny and I still have the book tho it's falling to pieces! To make a picture like this: scan your book cover, print onto fabric paper, dry for one hour, iron to set, cut out, turn edges and sew onto calico then pop into a frame. Fabric paper from: www.craftycomputerpaper.co.uk

Hide the meter box...

This is an after and before story....because I don't want the 'before' appearing at the top of the page! A transformation from an ugly, dirty and distressing household must-have to a quirky, useful display area for my collection of vintage childrens' storybooks. Having stared at the ugly (see below) for 3 years I had an inspiration moment, tipped out the contents of a storage box and hung it onto the meter box - it stayed there MIRACULOUS - and it was a good colour. The books hide the wires. I am happy....

When you have made your pompoms...

via www.gomakeme.com

Without this lovely blog I would probably not have found the original pompom making tutorial

Spreading the love :)

Making pompoms with a domestic fork...

via eskimimiknits.com

This would be a nice little project to do when your lil sweeties are off colour and off school!

QUICK TO MAKE POMPOMS USING A FORK

Now this is a brilliant idea! How come my mum taught me to make pompoms using 2 donut shapes cut out from the cornflakes box...probably to keep me quiet for longer!

Hmm, this is not as easy as it looks...especially the part where you have to tie a tight knot around the wool. I used DK and 60 windings around the fork and it was a bit of a flop so here's a scribble of what my version looks like:

More practise needed. I think metal forks are easier to use than plastic ones. I would use extra extra strong thread for tieing/tying the knot and 20 more windings. Must try harder next time...

Make bunting...

My bunting is nearly finished 5 weeks after the fat quarters were purchased. Due to lack of time and the fact that I cut my triangles too small (trying to squeeze too many from the fabric with no waste)... I decided to make an alternative to Emily's perfect bunting and came up with the idea of using zigzag stitch round the edges. It certainly was faster - it took 60 minutes to make 57 triangles, random I know and don't understand the mathematics of it!

The zigzag stitch gives the effect of 'pinked edges' - oops, but I don't care, it's lovely. I made a small length to drape on the mirror, to give the dining room a 'happy feel' and when I've finished the rest, it will be pinned up around my converted carport - now an outside wet weather BBQ area...

Toying with the idea of making a quilt instead, but quickly recovered from such fantasy....

Cut strips of contrasting fabric on the bias to bind the triangles and give a little stretch to the finished length if necessary...

 

Upcycling Toothbrushes into Bracelets

These two girls are very clever and also very generous in giving a tutorial on how to make this bracelet. I haven't tried it yet, but I'm going to try a quick version in the microwave and see what happens! You can find the link HERE

via twogirlsbeingcrafty.blogspot.com

Upcycled knitting needle genius...

via www.etsy.com

I was looking for a birthday present and found these super bracelets recyled/upcycled from vintage knitting needles - aren't they brilliant?

How to make Bunting - the right proper way!..

via www.joyfulabode.com

Yesterday I bought 5 patterned fat-quarters and 1.5m of contrasting plain fabric to feed my long-awaited bunting fix! Not wanting to bodge it and potentially waste my cash (like a number of my other projects) I looked around for a good method for making bunting. After scanning 10 average tutorials which were basically all copied from each other and kept mentioning the dreaded pinking shears, I happened across a blog by Emily called 'Joyful Abode' and found exactly what I was looking for - a clever tutorial with lots of good photos. Thank you Emily! CLICK HERE FOR HOW TO MAKE BUNTING THE RIGHT WAY

I'm going to make a start on this tomorrow because it's raining again and too dark to enjoy my new fabric. Watch this space...

I like these...

via www.esthercoombs.com

Found Esther's blog while browsing around and I love the way she up-cycles ceramics.

Making cushions...

Needed an 'emergency birthday pressie' due to being bored with the offerings of the High Streets near me therefore not wanting to go near the shops. Being a horder (in a good way!) I dragged an old and faded blue cushion cover from the bottom of the heap - being the oldest surviving rag since my last massive clearout! And look what it has become:

From cushion cover bought 20 years ago (yup, 'fraid so) -often washed to remove dabs of kiddy marmite and marmalade fingers - to machine embroidered treasure. This is how I did it:

fabric scraps too beautiful to throw away were glued and machined over to make a picture panel (Happy Birds) then inserted behind a 'window' made like a tailored pocket. Here's a link to a tailored pocket tutorial CLICK HERE which is the clearest one I can find - you need to make the rectangle slightly smaller than the picture panel. Then I sewed a zip into the reverse of the cover and attached a tassle for quirk factor...

Big button....

Look where I've been! Now I need to go back to take the photo so's the thread passes through the needle.